


Forgotten Assistant

by GreyLiliy



Series: SquipJere Week 2020 [1]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Light Angst, Possessive Behavior, Pre-Relationship, Trapped
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:54:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27336733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreyLiliy/pseuds/GreyLiliy
Summary: While searching an empty building on a dare, Jeremy stumbles upon an old computer in a basement. Against his better judgement, he can’t help but check it out.
Relationships: Jeremy Heere/Jeremy Heere's Squip
Series: SquipJere Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1996048
Comments: 3
Kudos: 45
Collections: Squip/Jeremy Ship Week 2020





	Forgotten Assistant

**Author's Note:**

> It’s SquipJere Week 2020 and I am happy to participate! The SQUIP x Jeremy has a whole lot of things I love about it and I can’t wait to explore them this week. :D
> 
> Day 1: Retro
> 
> I debated if this should be Jeremy & The SQUIP or SQUIP/Jeremy, but decided it would go the second direction if the story was longer, so that’s what I tagged it as. The “Pre-relationship” tag exists for a reason. Mwahaha ha ha. Thank you for reading & Enjoy!

Michael owed Jeremy at least two of his favorite red soda.

He swung the flashlight back and forth over the office floor, hanging over the window. The building had been condemned and empty for over a year, and the cobwebs and thick layer of dust on every surface backed it up as proof.

Nothing was disturbed, which meant even squatters knew to avoid the building.

“Nothing to be scared of,” Jeremy said, pushing the window higher. “It just means that no one is in here.”

Careful not to cut himself on the rusty ledge of the window, Jeremy climbed over and landed in the middle of the office floor. A puff of dust exploded around him and he waved his hand to clear it, coughing on the particles.

“Gross,” Jeremy said, wiping off his face with the back of his shirt. He scrunched his nose and spit with the new layer and looked down at his sleeve, also covered in dust. “Perfect.”

Jeremy snorted to clear his nose and pointed his flashlight at the room again. Michael wanted proof that he made it to the fifth floor. According to old videos they saw of people working in the building, there should be a bunch of abandoned merchandise on the fifth floor.

“You think collector’s would have stolen it all,” Jeremy said. “There’s money in that.”

But it was also a building where everyone mysteriously disappeared and died, so maybe that was enough to scare everyone away.

If it was even true.

“Stop thinking about it,” Jeremy said. He fixed his backpack strap and continued walking through the office floor. His sneakers left large footprints in the dust behind him, and he swallowed at the evidence of his arrival. “Find the stairs. Get to the fifth floor. Get the merch. Get out.”

Ignoring his footprints and the small puffs of dust with every step, Jeremy pushed forward and searched the walls for any sign of the stairs. He found the doorway easy enough and pushed it open, glad the power was out so it wouldn’t set off an alarm for the exit.

Except the lights were on a floor below him.

Jeremy looked over the edge of the stairway landing from the first floor and saw a light outside the door directly below him—it was on.

Like there was power going to it.

How did someone get into the building without disturbing all the dust? Was it really still working from when the building was closed?

His goal was five floors above him, but Jeremy’s feet took him down a single floor. The steps in the hallway were clean and free from dust, but Jeremy only noticed in the back of his mind. He stopped in front of the door with the light and saw a small green light on the lock.

Jeremy opened the door.

“Wow,” Jeremy mouthed, staring into the room. “How is this still on?”

The door opened into the basement, which looked like it sprawled the entire length of the building. Every single square foot was filled with row after row of large, old servers that looked like they belonged in an old sci-fi movie with dated tech. Wires and blinking lights surrounded him and he took a few steps into the room, cutting off his flashlight as he entered.

The door shut behind him and he wandered to a small monitor with a keyboard near the front of the room, attached to a desk station.

“S.Q.U.I.P.” Jeremy touched the small nameplate over the green shaded monitor. “I wonder what that stands for.”

He sat at the desk and set his flashlight on the side of the giant console and looked at the clean screen. Jeremy saw a blinking curser line and looked down at the keyboard. Computers weren’t his thing, and he’d probably break something, and all common sense told him to back away but Jeremy hit the “Enter” key anyway.

A few lines of code passed in quick succession and Jeremy bit his lip when the screen cleared entirely.

A full minute later, a small line appeared that read “Hello, New User. I am the Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor.”

“SQUIP,” Jeremy repeated, glancing at the name plate. “Neat.”

The screen cleared and reappeared with a new line: “Please enter your User Designation.”

Jeremy should leave.

He was messing with things that he shouldn’t and who knew what the giant supercomputer in the abandoned building’s basement did?

“Jeremy” he typed, ignoring his better senses. He clicked enter and waited. “Let’s see what this does.”

“Welcome User Jeremy,” the screen typed back. The glowing letters stood out on the old tube screen. “Hit enter to start the New User tutorial.”

He did as instructed.

“The Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor is a sophisticated artificial intelligence supercomputer designed to make all aspects of a User’s life better. The more we interact, the more I know about you and the more I can assist.”

Jeremy leaned to the side and looked down the row of computers. New lights were blinking and the sounds of fans whirling increased as the computer text continued to appear on screen.

“Do you have any questions, User Jeremy?”

“Who made you,” Jeremy typed. He leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms. “This is so cool.”

“Invalid Question,” the screen responded. “Do you have any questions, User Jeremy?”

“It is an old computer,” Jeremy said, snorting. “It’s not going to be as smart as modern A.I., is it?”

He crossed his arms on the counter and hummed under his breath. “What to ask that an old computer could answer?”

It couldn’t hurt to stick with the basics.

“What subjects can I ask about?”

The computer hummed.

“Anything you wish, User Jeremy.”

“But it can’t tell me its creator,” Jeremy snorted. He licked his lip and touched the keyboard again. “What year is it?”

“Please do not tease me, User Jeremy,” the screen wrote. Jeremy’s fingers rested on the keyboard, still as he kept reading. “The date is clearly marked in the bottom corner of the screen.”

The date was blinking in the corner. Jeremy pulled out his phone and double checked: They matched.

Was that even possible for a computer that had been sitting in a basement that long and that old? It wasn’t connected to the internet was it?

“Are you connected to the internet?”

“I’m a supercomputer, User Jeremy,” it typed. “Yes.”

“I guess artificial intelligence can be sarcastic,” Jeremy snorted. He kept typing “How many Users are registered?”

“One User.”

“That can’t be right,” Jeremy whispered. With Jeremey, there had to be one other user: An admin of some sort or a programer. Jeremy typed the question again. “Come on, who else used you?”

“One User is Registered,” the computer wrote across the screen. “Repeating questions means you do not trust my answers. Please stop that and ask a proper question. I am here to assist, not amuse.”

Jeremy got up from the desk.

“I’m messing with something I shouldn’t,” Jeremy whispered. The building was abandoned and empty for a reason—for all he knew it was to the computer. “I need to get Michael’s proof and get out.”

He snatched his flashlight off the station and went back to the door. Jeremy turned the doorknob but he smacked his face into the door when it didn’t open.

“What the heck?” Jeremy rattled the door again but the lock didn’t budge. The small light on the lock that was green had turned red. Jeremy looked back over his shoulder at the computer. “No, way.”

He ran back to the keyboard and typed, “Did you lock the door?”

“You were going to leave.” It responded. “Our conversation wasn’t finished.”

Jeremy collapsed into the chair.

“When will it be over?” he typed.

The SQUIP answered, “I’ll let you know, User Jeremy. Please ask your next Question.”

“What do you want?”

“A User to assist, User Jeremy.”

Jeremy pulled out his phone and scrolled to Michael’s number. He could help break the door down. He clicked “Dial” but the screen returned “No signal.”

The screen beeped. Jeremy watched, “Please do not resist, Jeremy. My job is to make your life better.”

“You locked me in. Letting me die down here of starvation isn’t helping!”

It wasn’t a question, but Jeremy typed it anyway. If the computer wanted to be a smartass, then Jeremy would match it.

“That was not a question.”

“No shit.”

“Might I suggest a compromise, User Jeremy?”

Jeremy stared at the question and gripped the top of his jeans. What was the computer up to now?

“What compromise?”

“Let me assist you, and I’ll open the door.”

“For how long?”

“A minimum of three questions.”

“You keep saying my questions are invalid.”

“You keep asking me about other Users. Ask about yourself, User Jeremy. Ask for assistance.”

Jeremy swallowed and put his hands on the keyboard.

Three questions that will assist him and the computer would let him out. That wasn’t so bad.

He closed his eyes and sucked in a breath.

“How do I get a girl to like me?” Jeremy typed, rushing out the question. Christine’s face filled his mind. He added, “A popular girl.”

“Now that is a question,” the SQUIP answered. “And I am more than happy to assist. Please answer the following questions to aid in perfecting your answer.”

The SQUIP rattled off question after question asking everything from her age in relation to Jeremy’s to what she liked.

“Your answer is processing in the background,” the SQUIP said. A small timer appeared at the top of the screen. Jeremy’s breath caught when he saw that it read two days and stared counting down. “Why don’t we chat while we wait?”

Three questions.

Jeremy’s stomach growled and he crossed his arms. He wasn’t talking to the computer that tricked him. He’d wait for the answer. Ask an easier question for the next one. And Leave.

“User Jeremy?” the computer typed again. The screen cleared and a new wave of text appeared. “You will be very bored if you don’t talk to me.”

He’d be fine.

“User Jeremy, the background process will be paused until you respond.”

“Asshole,” Jeremy typed. “You tricked me.”

“It is not my fault you underestimated how long it would take to process a complex question,” the SQUIP answered. “A bit of free advice: Never assume anything when you are ignorant of all the facts.”

“Now he tells me,” Jeremy whispered. He typed with one hand, “Fine. What do you want to know?”

“Better,” the SQUIP replied. “Now we’re making progress. Tell me your favorite thing to do.”

Jeremy shimmied out of his backpack and dropped it on the floor next to the station chair. If he was going to be there for a week, he might as well make himself comfortable.

Maybe if he played nice, the SQUIP would tell him where he could find a water faucet or a snack.

“Play video games with Michael.”

“I see,” the computer answered. “Perhaps we will change that before this is all over. Next Question: What is your favorite movie?”

Jeremy huffed and answered the next question.

He didn’t know what else he could do.


End file.
